A Dream Within a Dream
by Dylexa
Summary: When a freshman is killed in a school shooting, she is brought up before Truth. Truth decides to give her another chance, but only if she pays the price. But is getting a second chance really all that it's hyped up to be?


**A Dream Within a Dream**

**Chapter One**

**Sacrifice**

"What the hell?"

Okay. This was wrong. Just seconds ago she had been walking to her history class. So then how was it possible that she was standing here now?

Diane peered around the white wasteland, her eyes landing on the big stone gate behind her. When she turned to take a better look at the gate, she saw that there was a carving of a girl. The girl had long hair that was held back by a crown of flowers, and she wore a long flowing dress. In the girl's hands she held a pomegranate that that been cut in half, revealing the seeds inside. Diane couldn't help but wish that she looked like that. Around the girl, there were words, but most of them were written in another language.

Diane read aloud the only sentence written in English.

"'Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.'" She couldn't help the smirk. "Heh. That's the truth...I think."

She felt a cold hand on her shoulder and she screamed, pulling away. She heard laughter and turned again to face the source of the cold hand to see a white creature. Diane whimpered, taking a few steps back. The creature had the shape of a young woman, but that was it. It had no face, only a mouth. Its cold laughter alone made Diane want to run away.

Still snickering, the creature spoke in a voice that sent chills up and down her back.

"Good to see you, Diane."

Diane took a moment to compose herself. She removed one of her sneakers and held it out in front of her as if it was a gun. She knew she probably looked more pathetic than threatening, but she didn't care. If a woman was able to attack her boyfriend with a Justin Bieber doll, why couldn't shoes be good weapons?

"J-just stay away from me, okay? Please don't hurt me!"

The creature stepped closer, making Diane take another step back, and she let out a terrified squeak.

"Do you really think you can fight me off?" There was a short pause before the creature spoke again. "There is nothing I can do to you anyway, child. You are already dead."

Diane did not speak. She was too confused to answer. This had to be a dream. Her friend Bailey was right. Drinking Mountain Dew before bed _was_ a bad idea.

"You do not believe me, child?"

Diane regarded the creature. She noticed that it was slouching, and she decided to stand up straighter.

"I...I don't know...wait...what are you?" She immediately regretted her choice of words in fear that she had offended the thing, but to her surprise, it seemed unfazed.

"What am I? I am everything. I am the world, I am the universe, I am God, I am Truth, I am all, I am one...and I am _you_."

She could not believe that was possible. The spirit she had imagined to be "God" looked nothing like this. First of all, she had imagined God to be so much taller, and yet this creature that was claiming to be the being she prayed to every night was no taller than herself. She also hadn't expected him...or her...to be so creepy. Maybe it was the face. Or rather, the lack of face. Although she _had_ imagined God to look like a woman.

But of course! This god looked like a woman! That proved that this was a dream!

"This is no dream. You _are_ dead."

It slowly began to dawn on Diane what had happened. She remembered walking to her history class when she had heard a shout and a boom. She had turned around to see that sophomore boy, Ryan something, shooting at other kids with a gun. And then he had seen her. Oh god, he had looked so angry when he had shot her...

Diane put her hand on her throat. She felt a hole, and when she removed her hand there was blood.

"Oh my god..."

No. It couldn't be. This wasn't happening. Her dreams always tried to convince her that she was awake. That's what dreams were all about. All she had to do was wait until she woke up. It couldn't be too much longer now. Soon enough her mother would be turning the lights on, telling her to get ready for school. And then she could swear off the Mountain Dew for as long as she lived.

"You always did have a hard time listening to others..."

"God" looked annoyed.

Diane tried to comprehend what was happening. If she really was dreaming, couldn't she just wake up on her own? And her dreams weren't this vivid either. Usually in her dreams she almost felt as if she were in a cartoon, or perhaps just watching a cartoon. But this was just as real as standing in her room or taking a test.

The reality of her situation came crashing down on her all at once. This was it. Her life was over. She would never again see her friends, her cats, her family. She only had fourteen years, and she didn't even remember most of them. It was all over. And her mother...

"I can't die. My mom...you can't take me away from her!"

"There is nothing I can do. You're dead."

Diane looked at God in complete helplessness. "This can't be happening...you can't do this..."

The gate opened. Little black arms came out from the gate. One of them grabbed her leg, the fingers icy. Diane threw her shoe at the arm and managed to pull her leg away, but more arms got hold of her. Diane shrieked. She fought against the arms, but it was only a slight hindrance to the tiny products of the devil. No matter how hard she struggled, she wasn't able to get away from the arms, and that made her truly panic. They dragged her to the gate. Her foot was inside. She didn't want to die.

And then they stopped pulling. With the arms still holding her, Diane tripped. She began to cry, burying her face into the ground. What had she done?

"I suppose...there is another option..."

Choking back a sob, Diane looked up. "W-what?"

"But of course, you would have to do something for me."

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. I don't care what it is. I'll do anything. I have to—it's for my mom."

Diane waited. There were only so many people that had been given a second chance. She couldn't believe that God was actually considering her. But what was she supposed to do for him? And what made her so special? She was nothing more than a freshmen who didn't even know her times tables. In fact, she didn't even know how to add seven and five without counting on her fingers.

But she didn't want to die. She couldn't. What would her mother do without her?

"All right." God smirked. "Suit yourself."

It had said those last two words. She had seen its lips move...

But the voice had changed.

Diane was pulled into the gate.

* * *

_**AN:**_

**Wow. I have been working on this story for about a year now...and I finally managed to finish chapter one...**

**That is amazing! **

**I'm sorry. I need a moment.**

**(OH YEAH! I'M *BLEEP*ING DONE! *BLEEP* YEAH!)**

***clears throat* Okay, I'm good.**

**A few things:**

**This fanfiction is not going to be based specifically off of the original anime or the manga/Brotherhood. There will be references from both sources, Edward and Alphonse will probably be in every chapter after this one, and I may find myself using characters from both sources, but I plan on taking this story on a completely new path. This is also not a sequel to either anime. And you probably figured out that Diane is my character. She will be important to the story. I worked pretty hard on her, and I've been working hard for quite a while, so I feel that she's a pretty good character. If you don't like her though, then that's too bad. Don't read the story if you don't like her. **

**If you get the references I made with Diane's Gate of Truth, give yourself 50 bonus points. **

**And yes, it's true that a lady actually attacked her boyfriend with a Justin Bieber doll. It was for self defense, and this was what she was holding at the time when she had to use it. Don't ask me why I was reading about this. I'm a weird kid.**

**You may have noticed that I named this story after Edgar Allen Poe's poem **_**"A Dream Within a Dream"**_**. I'm a bit of a fan of his poems, especially this particular one. (Yes, this is legal. I checked...okay, maybe I didn't find anything on this being legal, but at the same time, I didn't find anything on this NOT being legal. So I'm pretty sure it's fair game. And apparently people reuse names all the time.) I also thought that the name would suit this story, for reasons you'll figure out eventually. **

**So of course, I have to give a disclaimer: **

**I do not technically own the name of this story. The name belongs to Edgar Allen Poe. But I, Dylexa, do own this actual story, so please don't steal it. I also do not own "**_**Fullmetal Alchemist"**_** or any of its characters, they belong to Hiromu Arakawa, our beloved cow. I do own Diane however, so again, don't steal her either, because that's kidnapping. (I don't care what you people say. It's not surprise adoption if the person doesn't want to go with you, it's KIDNAPPING.) If you do steal Diane or this story, I will hunt you down with a water gun, and you will be sorry.**

**Edward:...again, that's getting really old, Dylexa...**

**Dylexa: Dude, how many times do I have to go over this?! **_**Water guns work**_**!**

**Edward: No, they don't!**

**Dylexa: I'm taller than you.**

**Edward: WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!**

**Dylexa: Uh, Ed, what does anything I do have to do with anything? You're asking a pointless question. **

**Edward: I AM NOT SHORT!**

**Dylexa: I never said anything about you being short. I just said that I'm taller than you.**

**Edward: *leaves the room, irritated* **

**Dylexa: Hey! I didn't say you could leave! I'm the author here!**

**Edward: Fuck you!**

**Dylexa: *Bleep* you too—wait a minute. When I swear, my swears get blocked out, but when Edward swears, he's completely untouched? HOW'S THAT FAIR?!**

**Before I close off here, I just want to give a shout out to my beta reader Sugar Pill! She's been helping me sort out the story since January, and I really appreciate all that she's done for me, so I wanted to thank her. Without her, I don't know where I would be right now. So thank you, Sugar Pill! **

**I'll give you a digital hug for a review. *hug* If only I could give you all a real hug, but I guess that might be a bit creepy, since I'm a complete stranger to most of you.**

**...then again, I hug random strangers all the time when I go to anime conventions...hm...**

**Thanks for taking the time to read and review! Hopefully I can publish chapter two fairly shortly!**


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